No one makes fans think they’ve mysteriously died via cryptic messages quite like the hunky Gaston. Luke Evans, who brought the musclebound meathead to life in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, recently shared an inscrutable post on Twitter that legit had fans thinking the actor had crossed the rainbow bridge.
After discovering that the previously-announced Beauty and the Beast spin-off series was put on hold, Luke Evans took to social media to share the sad news. The only problem? The way he worded his message was a bit misleading. Check out his post below:
This is a very sad message for us to tweet. We are devastated. Goodbye, for now, from Gaston and Le fou ❤️February 10, 2022
Most people tend to use the word "devastating" on social media when someone has passed on, or if a tragic accident has occurred. While the shelving of a potentially huge series is definitely disappointing, that probably wasn't a lot of people's automatic assumption upon seeing that post, and certain fans were under the impression that something infinitely worse had taken place. Namely, they thought that Luke Evans had literally died, though just to be clear, he is very much alive, well, and still insanely ripped).
One Twitter user offered a bit of constructive criticism for future posts:
Dude! You've got to start tweets like this differently. Thought you were dead for a second!
@BrandonveM
Other fans concurred. A few were convinced that at least someone had died, but they weren’t sure whether it was Luke Evans or another Disney heavyweight like famed composer Alan Menken. This Twitter user said:
I know! I thought something horrible happened and someone died. I later read through the comments and found out it was the show that got canceled.
@Amanda_Parsons
The Beauty and the Beast spin-off in question was meant to focus on Gaston and Le Fou, serving as a prequel/origin story for Belle’s future foes. Luke Evans and Josh Gad were on tap to reprise their respective roles, and additional cast members included Briana Middleton of The Tender Bar, pop singer Rita Ora, Broadway veteran Jelani Alladin, and Fra Fee of Hawkeye.
Originally announced in 2020, the untitled series was set to begin production in Europe this summer. Disney eventually opted to shelve the project, partially due to a variety of factors that included scheduling conflicts, creative differences, and pandemic-related complications. The Gaston spin-off hasn’t been the only high-profile Disney project to get the chop in recent years, with a failed Muppets in Manhattan sequel (also involving Josh Gad) and a Lizzie McGuire project being eighty-sixed in the relatively recent past.
Luckily for Luke Evans, he’s got plenty of resume additions in the works. He’s set to play the Coachman in the live-action Pinocchio for Disney, and he’ll appear in Echo 3 for Apple TV+. The merry misadventures of Gaston and Le Fou may not be making it to the small screen anytime soon, but you can still catch Luke Evans and Josh Gad in the live-action Beauty and the Beast with your Disney+ subscription. Until we hear more about the fate of the spin-off, you can check out these upcoming TV releases for you to binge in 2022.
